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OF THE 



HON. EDWARDS PIERREPONT 



IX FAVOR OF THE 



ELECTION OF GEN. GRANT, 

DELIVERED AT THE GREAT MEETING OF THE 

GRANT DEMOCRACY, 

HELD AT COOPER'S INSTITUTE, 
Wednesday, Oct, 21, 1868, 



WM. C. BRY AKT it CO., PRINTERS, 41 NASSAU ST., COR. LIBERTY. 



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SPEECH OF HON. EDWARDS P1ERREPONT. 



Mr. President: 

Four years ago, you aud I, and many patriotic men, assem- 
bled in this Hall to aid our Country in her day of peril. 

We asked no honors and no office ; — and we received none. 

Four eventful years have passed since then, — and now a new 
danger threatens. 

Supported by all who were with us then, by our unfaltering 
friend Gen. Dix, who speaks to us so well from over the seas, 
and strengthened by many new and noble men, we meet again 
upon this platform. 

You have been steadfast even unto the end, and it is a bright 
presage for the future that you preside here to night. 

Then, we invoked the God of Battles, and we helped to win 
the bloody light : Now, we invoke the Prince of Peace, and, we 
hope, a far more glorious victory. 

Friends and Fellow-Citizens : 

Old party politics are dead ; the war made new issues. When 
Lee surrendered his army to General Grant, we thought 
that the Rebellion was ended : But Treason has a new birth ; — 
not yet hath it put its armor on ; — not yet does it dare to pro- 
claim its fellest purpose — the seizure of the Government, and the 
restoration of Slavery ! Now, it seeks by diplomatic arts to win 
what it lost by war ; — to make treason honorable, and fidelity 
odious ; — -and, as Wade Hampton expresses it, " To restore the 
Lost Cause !" 

By some strange fatuity, our Northern people will never take 
warning until it is too late. 



They never would believe, until Fort Sumpter fell, that the 
South meant war. They will not now believe that the crushed 
Rebellion is reviving ! 

Have not the enemy murdered enough of your children, to 
quicken your senses to approaching danger ? 

The Convention which met at Tammany Hall on the 4th of 
July, ballotted twenty-two times, running into the 10th day of 
the month, before Hotatio Seymour was nominated as its can- 
didate for President, 

In the same Convention, a Rebel General stepped forward 
and nominated Frank P. Blair for Vice-President. No ballot was 
needed ; — one wild yell of wild enthusiasm filled the Hall ; — 
Blair had the full heart and soul of the Convention. He fairly 
represented its spirit. 

Why did the Convention hesitate so long to nominate Seymour, 
and why, with such eager unanimity did they hasten to nomi- 
nate Blair ? 

Read the list of leading names in that Assembly, and read 
the speeches of Seymour and the letter of Blair, published just 
prior to the Convention, and you shall see the reason for this 
striking difference. 

In this list I find one hundred and five men who were Con- 
federate Generals, Colonels, Majors, Captains, Governors, Sena- 
tors, or Members of the Rebel Congress. 

Among them are Wade Hampton, Buckner, Ransom, Vance, 
Bocock, Hill, Preston, Clingman, Rhctt, and the petted Gen- 
eral Forrest, remembered for his cruel and inhuman massacre 
of Union Soldiers, after their surrender, at Fort Pillow. 

In that Convention were many good and true men of the 
North, but they held no sway, and their voice was not regarded. 

Mr. Seymour, in his recent speeches, had denounced every 
form of repudiation. In his Cooper Institute Speech of June 
25th, he says : 



" If we make our paper money good by a harsh system of con- 
" tract ion, we shall cripple the energies of the country, and d 
"bankruptcy and ruin. If, on the other hand, we debase the cur- 
•■ rency by unwise issues, we equally perplex business, and destroy 
" sober industry, and make all prices mere matters of gam: 
" tricks and chances. This will end as it did in the Southern < '011- 
" federacy. At the outset, flic citizens of Richmond went to markel 
" with their money in their vesi pockets, and broughl back their 
" dinners in their baskets ; in the end, they took their money in 
" their baskets, and brought home their dinners in their vest 
■• pockets." 

In his Albany speech of March 11th, he Bays: 

"The bonds so unwisely and so wastefully issued have gone into 
" the hands of innocent holders, who, to a vast extent, are compul- 
" sory owners." 

"It is a mistake to suppose that they are mostly held by capital- 
ists. Large sums belonging to children and widows, under the 
" order of Courts or the action of Trustees, have been invested in 
" Government bonds. The vast amounts held by Life and Lire In- 
" surance Companies and Savings Banks are, in fact, held in trust 
r and are the reliance of the great body of active business and 
•• laboring men or women, or of widows and orphans. The Savings 
" Banks of this State, which are the depositories of the poor, or of 
" persons of limited means, hold about 8e'o,000,000 of Government 
mds. The whole amount held in the State of New York, in the 
irms of trust, will not fall below $200,000,000. If we look into 
p" other States we shall see that only a small share of these bonds 
'■' are held by men known as capitalists, but they belong, in fa 
"' not in form, to the business, the active and the laboring men of 
ciety. The destruction of these securities would make a widi - 
••' spread ruin and distress, which would reach into every workshop 
" and every home, however humble. ::: :;: ::: 

" li is a mistake to suppose that the interests of the bondholder and 
" the tax-payer are antagonistic. The fact is overlooked, that in 
■• order to make anj saving by giving the bondholder a debased or 
"worthless paper, we must bring upon ourselves disaster and dis- 
mor which will cost a hundred fold what we can save. !: means 
•• thai we are to give to the laborer for his toil a base currency; it 
'•' means that the lienor of our country shad be stained : it means 



6 

" that our business shall be kept in uncertainty and confusion; it 
" means that the laboring man shall suffer by the increased cost of 
" the comforts of life ; it means that the tax-payer shall be burdened 
" by a Government proved t»> be corrupt and imbecile by this very 
" depreciation of its money, We cannot afford to speculate upon 
" the Nation's honor at so fearful a cost? 

Such might be the words of a sagacious statesman with sound 
financial views ; such might be the words of a patriot jealous of 
his country's honor. 

Wade Hampton, and the other Hebel generals who dominated 
over that Convention, had read these speeches. 

They knew Seymour to be the son of a New England sire, 
and they doubted his readiness to sell his birth-right. 

Wonder not that they delayed his nomination so long — but 
wonder and be sad, that a gentleman of the North, whose ideas 
upon the great question of the day were so just, should be hum- 
bled to the earth and bend down before these Rebel generals, 
all fresh from the slaughter of his countrymen, and take back 
the noble words he had uttered before they would consent to his 
nomination ! 

Seymour assures us that he did not wish to be nominated, but 
that he was " caught up in a whirlwind " and couldn't help it. 
A. whirlwind is an unsafe thing for Seymour to ride upon. The 
Prophet " Elijah was taken up by a whirlwind into heaven'' 1 — 
and Seymour fancied that he was going to be taken up by the 
same vehicle, into the Presidency / but he will find it whirling 
down the other way with terrific speed — about November. 

Three days before the Convention met Blair published his 
declaration of principles, using these words : 

" There is no possibility of changing the political character of the 
" Senate, even if the Democrats should elect their President, and 
" a majority of the popular branch of Congress. We cannot, there- 
" fore, undo the Radical plan of Reconstruction by Congressional 
" action ; the Senate will continue a bar to its repeal. Must we 
" submit to it? Hoiu can it be overthrown? 

"There is but one way to restore the Government and the Con- 
" stitution, and that is for the President elect to declare these acts 



" nuU and void, compel the army to undo its usurpations at the 
" South, disperse the Carpet Bag State Governments, allow the 
" white people to re-organize their own Governments, and elect 
" Senators and Representatives. 

" We must restore the Constitution before we can restore the 
" finances, and to do this we must have a President who will exe- 
" cute the will of the people, ty trampling into dust the usurpations 
" of Congress, known as the Reconstruction Acts. I wish to si and 
" before the Convention upon this issue." — There let him stand — 
there he will stand. 

Tliis was purely revolutionary ; this promised lawless violence 
and war. The letter suited the Convention exactly. Blair 
knew it would. No ballot was needed for Blair. Blair was the 
son of a Southern slaveholder. Blair could be trusted. A Rebel 
General rose and nominated Blair ; and with loud acclaim, 'mid 
wildest enthusiasm, he was selected. 

Seymour bowed down his intellectualhead before the Rebel 
power, accepted a platform which repudiated every just senti- 
ment of his recent speech, and, as friends report — went away 
sorrowful ! 

Hear him in reply to the tender of his nomination : 

" I have been caught by the great tide that is swelling our party 
" on to victory, and I am unable to resist the pressure.'' 

This is the tide which swept over Pennsylvania and Ohio the 
other day ; Seymour foresaw it dimly, but he mistook its charac- 
ter ; he thought it was one of those old Democratic tides, which 
ante-date the war ; his blinded eyes couldn't see that it swelled 
out from millions of loyal hearts, heaving with honest love and 
solicitude for the safety of their country ! 

Old Democratic leaders for the last ten years, have had no just 
sense of public opinion. The same kind of Democratic leaders 
lived eighteen hundred and forty years ago ; — Christ said, they 
were " fools, and blind, that could discern the signs of the times." 

Seymouk, continues : 

"You have also communicated to me the resolution adopted by 



"thai Convention. As its Charman I am familiar with its language 
"and as a member of that Convention I am a party to its terms 
'•'I accord with its views; I stand upon its position in this 
"contest, and I shall strive hereafter, whether in public or private 
" life, to carry them into effect." 

These resolutions demand repudiation of the Ration's faith, 
and declare the solemn acts of Congress unconstitutional and 
void. 

This is the first time in our history that a political convention 
lias undertaken to declare what laws of Congress are unconstitu- 
tional and void: and the first time that a candidate for the Vice- 
Presidency has proposed to " trample into dust " the Statutes 
of Congress, which he admits that lie could not get repealed. 

This platform had the Rebel General Wade Hampton as its 
cbief builder ; with defiant boldness he gives us its whole his- 
story. 

The Charleston Journal, informs us, that — 

" General Wade Hampton was welcomed by the people of that 
"city, on Friday night, upon his return from the Tammany Con- 
" vention. He was received by a long procession, and having been 
"conducted to a four-horse carriage, was escorted, like a conquer- 
•• in;.;- hero, amid the shouts of the multitude, to his temporary stop- 
" ping place in the city." 

He said : 

"More than four years — years which have seen a Nations death. 
"which have brought to us sorrow, humiliation and ruin, — have 
'• passed since I last stood in your noble and battle-scarred old city. 
" Then proudly erect, flushed with victory and devotion in her 
•• patriotism, she held in her heroic hands the key of our State, 
"-defying with indomitable courage, the assaults of her enemies. 
"While a portion of her sons here guarded so bravely the portals 
"of the State, others were following the glorious Southern Cross, 
"wherever it was waving in triumph, or were sleeping their his! 
" sleep on the fields, which their valor had contributed to win. All 
•■ were, doing their duly as Carolinian*, and the great historic nam 
"of the Revolution were gilded with a new lustre as the descend- 
" ants of Moultrie, of Eutledge, of Lowndes, of Hayne, of Pinckney 
"and Huger, fought as did their fathers for this dear old Carolina 



"of ours." * * * "So long as patriotism, constancy and valor are 
"esteemed;, the wondrous story of her defence will stir the hearts of 
'•brave men, and noble women will teach their children to lisp the 
•• name of Beauregard." 

Beauregard you will remember, was an officer in the regular 
army, was educated at West Point, at the expense of the Gov- 
ernment which he had sworn to defend and whose flag he 
betrayed. 

The speech continues — 

"I hope and believe that the blessed day of our deliverance is 

"drawing near. The signs in the political skies are full of hope, 

- and we bring back to you from the united Democracy of the 
•■ North, tidings of great glee." 

"After a free and full consultation with delegates in the Conven- 

- tion, representing all the Northern States, I am thoroughly con- 
•• vinced that the gnat heart of Democracy is fully aroused ; that it 
••beats in profound sympathy with the suffering South; that it is 
•• fully alive to the dangers which threaten to destroy the Constitu- 
tion and the Government, and that it is unalterably fixed in its 
" purpose to rescue that Constitution from destruction, to restore 
•• that Government to its legitimate functions, and to bring back 
"the Southern States to their place in the Union, with all their 
"rights, dignity and equality unimpaired. These are the objects 

; which the Democractic party are lighting; and, planting them- 
vea on the Appian way of the Constitution, grasping once more 

•• in friendship the hands of their brethren of the South, setting up 
tin the broken altars of the country, they have sworn never to 

••cease fighting until their objects are accomplished. 

Thus talks this Rebel General about the Constitution, which 
he had betrayed, and the Government he fought so long to 
destroy. 

Listen further : 

- / yield to none in devotion to that 'Lost Cause' for which 10c 

"fought. Never shall I admit that the cause itself failed, and that 

•• the principles which gave it life were therefore wrong. Never shall 

•• 1 brand the men who upheld it so nobly as " rebels' or 'traitors.'" 

* * * * •/.- * * 



10 



" As it was my good fortune to be on the Cornmittee which framed this 
" instrument, it may be interesting to you, perhaps, to learn the detail 
" by which it was perfected, and the views of those who made it. As 
' you are aware, the Committee on Resolutions consisted of one member 
" from each State." 

" Gentlemen were here from the North, South, East and West, and by 
" all we were met with extreme cordiality. They said they were willing 
" to give us everything we desired ; but we of the South must remember 
" that they had a great fight to make, and it would not be policy to 
" place upon that platform that which would endanger prejudice at the 
" North." 

"Wade Hampton must have been a little vexed, at these fool- 
ish prejudices of the North against rebellion, against re-enslave- 
ment and repudiation of the honest debt. But Northern preju- 
dice did not stand long in the way. 

" They, however, pledged themselves to do all in their power to relieve 
" the Southern States, and restore to us the Constitution as it had existed. 
" As we were met in such a kindly spirit, I could not but reciprocate 
" it. I knew that I was representing the feelings of my people when I 
" did so." 

(After this apology, we hope that the Eebels will not be too 
hard on "Wade Hampton for treating Northern Democrats with 
common decency.) 

" I told them that I could withdraw all the resolutions I have offered, 
" and no doubt other Southern delegates would do the same, and would ac- 
" cept the resolutions offered by Hon. Mr. Bayard, the Senator from Dela- 
" ware, which declared that the right of suffrage belonged to the States. I 
" said I take the resolutions if they would allow me to add but three words, 
" which you will find embodied in the platform. 1 added this : And we 
" declare that the Reconstruction Acts are revolutionary, unconstitutional 
" and void. When I proposed that every single member of the Coui- 
" mittee — and the warmest men in it were the men of the North, came 
" forwa.id and said they would carry it out to the end." 

Hear him further : 

"Victory will bring even more than this to us, for it will give us, along 
" with constitutional liberty, the right to manage and control our own 



11 

" State Government in accordance with the time honored provisions of the 
" Constitutions of the United States. When may we hope to see the res- 
" toration of honor and decency in the conduct of affairs ; we may hope to 
" see our rulers as of old, intelligent, patriotic native born — and white. 
" In that blessed day of deliverance, we shall have no carpet-bag or mili- 
" tary Governors." 

Yes, in that blessed day of the election of Seymour and Blair, 
" native born " rulers alone are to have peace. Our adopted 
fellow-citizens are all to be excluded. "Native boen" is the 
watchword ! ' 

Ho ! Rally to the standard of Seymour and of Blair, ye for- 
eign-born who have adopted our country as your home ; in 
their day of glorious victory none but the native-horn shall hold 
a single office. 

The Charleston JVexos, in concluding its report, says : 

" On leaving the stage an attempt was made to secure General 
■■ Eampton and raise him on the shoulders of the crowd/' 

Governor Sharkey, of Mississippi, says : 

'• The Democratic party has put a platform that ought to be ac- 
ptable to all North and South. Its foundation is laid in the 
•• Constitution. It demands immediate restoration of all the States 
'•' to their equal rights in the Union — it declares the Union to be 
•• indis oluble — audit declares the whole Congressional system of re- 
" con ' void, and, as a consequence, everything which has been 

" done under it void also. On this platform we of the South can 
aud; it will restore us to our rights — to our position of 1865 — 
" and hint out all that has been done under the arbitrary and un- 
" wan antable demands of Congress." 

He says of Seymour and Blair : 

" They cannol falter now, they are committed. They cannot un- 
" dertake bo administer a Government part valid, part void." 

And the Mobile Tribune adds : 

"The great Democratic ['arty will rise in Lis might, and the dag- 



12 



" ger of Brutus may aid in accomplishing our redemption from 
" Eadical rule, ruin and usurpation." 

" If we are successful in the approaching contest we shall gain 
" all that we lost in the ' Lost Cause.' " 

" By the election of Seymour and Blair," says Governor Vance, 
of North Carolina, " all that the Confederacy fought for will be 
" won." 

And it is asserted by the Mobile Register : 

" That the counter-revolution will not be complete without more 
" blood-lcttmoy' 

And the Richmond Enquirer adds : 

" The white men of the Southern States have seen the day when 
" they could use the bullet, and, if God in his anger permit the 
" necessity to arrive, they will use it again." 

The Georgia Democratic Convention declared : 

" There might once have been a necessity for the Rebels of Georgia 
" to submit to the military authorities, but there is none now. The 
" Democratic chivalry of the North are marching to our rescue." 

Says Governor Wise : 

" Secession is not dead, it is more alive to-day than ever. I sup- 
" port Blair because he promises Revolution." 

J. M. Ramsey, of Georgia, declares : 

" That the true men of the South are ready to rally once more 
" under the Rebel flag and try the issue of the cartridge box." 

Toombs bid defiance in these words : 

" The Reconstruction Acts are null and void, and shall not stand. 
" The grinning skeletons that have been set up in our midst as leg- 
" islators shall be ousted by Frank Blair, whom our party has ex- 
" pressly appointed for that purpose." 

Copt. Semmes, who robbed and burned your unarmed mer- 
chan ships, in a ratification speech at Mobile, said ; 



13 

" I drew my sword against the old flag, ?:r " :: ::r ::: 
" come here to-night, from the country, to ratify and rejoice with 
" you in the nomination of Sej monr and Blair." 

Col. Hernclon, following him, said : 

"If there were any omissions in the platform, the brave and 
" magnanimous speeches of Seymour and Blair supplied them all." 

Then reading the letter of Blair, which promised "to trample 
into dust," by military power, the laws of Congress, he ex- 
claimed : 

" "Who but a brave, true, generous heart could utter such a sen- 
" timent as this ? " 

The Rebel Judge Jones said : " He asked for no better platform 
than the letter of Gen. Blair." 

21 r. Chas. Gibson, in his speech, said : 

" Mr. Blair, in this letter, tells us that if he be elected Presidi 
" of the United States, or become President — he tells you that if 
" he become President of the United States, he will use the neces- 
" sary measures to remove the State Governments of the South" 

The Rebel Judge Churchill used the following language : 

" Thank God ! the people have been ahead of their I 
" have never believed that their sacred cause was wholly lost. Their 
"faith is now rewarded. A great party is now ours, and we sh 
" all press on to victory" 

When a Law of Congress is ^distasteful, the Rebels declare 
that it is unconstitutional, and Blair proposes to " trample it 
into dust "by military power. " The President-Elect" he tell lis, 
must do this, he cannot even wait for the inauguration. But if 
the Constitution itself stands in the way, what do you think is 
to be done theu 1 Why, declare it unconstitutional, to be sure ! 

The Fourteenth Amendment was long since adopted, and ha3 
in due form been declared a part of the Constitution ; and yet 
ex-Senator Pugh, of Ohio, says ; 



14 

"I would not give them a three cent, postage stamp for their 
Fourteenth Amendment. It is not part of the Constitution, 
audit never will he. It is a base fraud, and I say, as Frank 
Blair said, these Carpet-lag Governments must he overthrown ." 

This Fourteenth Amendment provides against the repudiation 
of our national debt, against any recognition of the Rebel claims, 
and against any payment for the loss of their slaves. You see 
why this part of the Constitution is so odious, and why Blair, 
with military feet, means " to trample it into dust." 

I have given you the views of leading Seymour and Blair 
men in their own words. Why should we not expect these 
views? Vail and id gh am moved the nomination of Seymour. 
The Rebel General Preston nominated Blair, and four confede- 
rate Generals, with Vallandingham added, made the Ratifica- 
tion Speeches in New York. These speeches, these journals, 
and these letters, which I have read, tell us that the election of 
Seymour and Blair will restore the " Lost cause," will justify 
the Rebellion, and re-instate the South in every right which she 
had before the revolt. They are right ; no honest man can 
doubt it. 

Does any sane man, for one moment, imagine that, if Blair is 
elected, the South will ever consent to pay a dollar of the debt 
incurred in putting clown their Rebellion ? 

This cry about the burden of the public debt, is a false cry, 
raised by the enemies of the Government. The debt grows less, 
the means of payment grow greater every month : when' peace 
is fairly restored, and the industry of the whole country revives, 
the debt will not be felt : and before Grant's administration is 
over, people will wonder that they were ever frighted by this 
phantom. 

Even during the most costly years of the war, when the South- 
ern States were in actual revolt, and, of course, contributed no- 
thing to the revenue ; the taxes of the North were easily borne, 
and the material prosperity of our people was never greater. 
When hostilities ceased, the expenses of the Government were 
fo rtli with vastly diminished, and the productive industry of the 
country was greatly increased. Millions of the war debt have 
already been paid, and the income-tax has been reduced one-half. 



15 

With the opening of the Pacific Railroad — with the incon- 
ceivable increase of wealth which will follow the completion of 
that work ; with the new dawning trade of the East ; with the 
countless emigrants from China whose willing hands will reveal 
the hidden riches of onr soil ; with the numberless laborers from 
Europe now weekly landing upon our shores ; with the increas- 
ing population and stimulated enterprise of the ever-robust and 
progrssive Xorth, and with all this unite the whole vast resources 
of the regained and regenerated South ; and while the hollow 
cant, about national bankruptcy and ruin, is droning in our 
ears, New York will become the monetary centre of the world, 
gold will be our currency, and the public debt will have ceased 
to be a burden. 

The two great contending principles, which now divide the 
country, are fairly represented by two Generals : 

The one by General Grant, the other by General Blair. No 
one can doubt upon which side General Grant stands ; and 
General Blair has taken especial pains that no one shall doubt 
upon which side he stands. The people are going to vote. They 
will vote for General Grant or for General Blair. Many De- 
mocrats now think they will not vote at all ; but when the I 
arrives they will surely vote — all will vote ; it will be far the 
largest vote ever cast; it will be a decisive, an overwehning 
vote. 

Which of these two Generals shall be your Chief Ruler for the 
next four years? Which can you most safely trust with this 
great office, in these unsettled times of much confusion and great 
distrust 1 

You want peace, order, security ; a rivival of our varied in- 
dustry and a restoration of our whole Union upon terms which 
are fair and just. To whom will you turn as the safer man ? 

Tt will occur to our people, that if Seymour were elected Pre- 
sident, he may die, and give place to Blair. Within a few short 
years three Presidents, just entering upon their term of office, 
have died; and the Yice Presidents have reigned in their stead. 
What these Vice Presidents would do, no one could tell, — but 
each adjust exactly what the party which elected him did not 



1G 

wish. Seymour might perish under the weight of office ; and if 
lie did not please the Rebels, some Southern patriot, like Wilkes 
Booth, might dispose of him. If Seymour were out of the way 
no one can doubt what Blair would do, he has told us that. 

I have known General Grant since the time when he came 
from the West to take command of the Army of the Potomac. He 
has impressed me as one of the most remarkable of men. He has 
always been a Democrat. To the great principles of the Demo- 
cratic party (which began to perish with the war,) I have al- 
ways been attached. I believe in coined gold and not in stamped 
paper ; I believe in liberty protected by law ; I believe that the 
foreign-born, who have adopted our country, and sworn alle- 
gience to our Government, should have the same rights, and the 
same protection, (under the Constitution,) as the native-born ; I 
believe that the Government should act with even justice upon 
the rich and the poor ; that it should allow the utmost freedom, of 
trade consistent with its absolute necessities for moderate reve- 
nue; that it should not trammel enterprise by legislative mono- 
polies ; that as a Government, it should aim at no paltry imitation 
of Royal or Imperial splendor; but be a simple, economical, 
stern and just Protecting Power, leaving the individual to what- 
ever of luxury and extravagant display his folly may suggest ; 
that' it should relieve its citizens from harrassing taxes, by levy- 
ing the tax upon few articles, in such manner as to compel 
every man to pay his just share in accordance with his means ; 
that it should have no costly army in time of peace, and that 
the people should, by " eternal vigilance " guard against the 
absorption of the rights of the States by the Central Power. 

Conversations with Gen. Grant had led me to believe that such 
was the substance of his own views, and I was very desirous that 
he should be the Democratic candidate. One day at his house 
in Washington, while he' was Secretary of War, I told him that 
I thought he would make a good Democratic candidate if he was 
right on the question of negro suffrage. He replied that he had 
no wish tor the Presidency, that he had now a much higher office 
than he had ever expected, — that General Sherman would make 
a good President, and that he would gladly give the half that he 
was worth to make Sherman, or any other lit man, President ; that 



IT 

his feelings and sentiments were entirely opposed to negro suf- 
frage ; but that lie did not wish to be restrained by any pledges 
from the right to change his opinions in future if new exigences 
convinced him that he was wrong ; for, said he, you will remem- 
ber that early in the war, when I was in command at the west I 
publicly stated that if the negroes had an insurrection I would 
hold mv army in check until it was put down. But long be- 
fore the war was over I should have been glad of a negro insur- 
rection, and would have moved my army all the faster. What I 
want is the Union — the whole country returned to peace and 
submission to the laws. I do not like universal negro suffrage 
now, but the freed men ought to be protected, and if the only 
way to protect them in their helpless condition is, to give them 
the suffrage, then I shall be in favor of letting them vote. I 
want the Union restored, and Lo have the South come back, obey 
the laws, and submit as good citizens, and if the future proves 
that they will not do it without negro suffrage, then I would 
give them negro suffrage. 

Washington never thought more wisely or talked more 
justly. 

That General Grant fairly represents the patriot sentiment of 
the North, no man can doubt. From the beginning of the war 
to its close, he was at his post of duty ; always ready, uncom- 
plaining, patient, vigilant and just ; trusting in God, in a right- 
eous cause, and in his own brave men, he never knew a failure. 
Poor — without a rich friend — with no reputation, and no polit- 
ical influence, — he rose to the head of the army, conducted the 
greatest war in the annals of time to successful end, and with- 
in live short years, from his humble start, his was the foremost 
name in the civilized world. 

Ilis detractors say, that he has no experience in affairs of State ; 
nor had he experience in war until he commenced it. It is also 
said that his success in war was owing to good fortune. 

So let his success in peace be. 

Good fortune is a powerful goddess, and he whom she favors 
is certain of success. 

Washington was first a great General, and then he was a 
great statesman. 



18 

Grant has proved himself a great General, and the same high 
gifts of firmness, determined purpose, unswerving fidelity, calm- 
ness of judgment, justice, moderation and wonderful aptness in 
the employment of the ability of others, added to a clear com- 
mon sense approaching to genius, assure us that he will make 
a President whom we can safety trust. 

Seymour has had no experience in the administration of 
Federal affairs, and has always been noted, as "infirm of purpose, 
" letting I dare not, wait upon I would." In July 1803, he 
made a public speech, very discouraging to every friend of the 
Government and tending to impair the success of the war. On 
the same day, — Grant made no speech, — but marched his brave 
soldiers into Yicksburg, and 30,000 enemies of your country sur- 
rendered. 

This is the last great issue of our time ; the most momentous 
ever presented for your verdict. You cannot mistake the issue. 
The dying words of the brave Douglas in our last conflict were, 
"There can be no neutrals in this war — Only patriots or 
traitors." 

The same issue passed upon by the American People in 
1SG4, is again presented, with added features, more odious and 
revolting. Then the proposition was, that the " war was a 
" failure," and ought to cease. Now it is boldly claimed that 
the Rebellion was right, and that Davis and Lee and Beau- 
regard, and all the other Rebels, educated at public expense, and 
who turned traitors to the Government, which they had sworn 
to defend, — whose hands are yet dripping with the blood of 
Northern men, who went down to death to save the nation's life, 
— are men of high honor; of whom Blair in his speech of ac- 
ceptance, with irrepressible enthusiasm, exclaims : 

"What civilized people on earth would refuse to associate ■with 
"themselves under all the rights, honors and dignities of their 
"country such men as Lee and Johnston? 

" What civilized country on earth would fail to do honor to those 
" who, Bghting lor an erroneous cause, yet distinguished themselves 
"by a gallantry uever surpassed, in that contest for which they are 
"sought to be disfranchised and exiled from their homes j in that. 
"contest lhe\ proved themselves worthy to be our peers." 



1\) 



He should Lave added — And we wish them to be oue 

Masters 1 

Montgomery Blair, in Alexandria, made his public confession 
and recantation in these words : 

"Many who like myself have opposed secession and rebellion, and 
" fancied ourselves "wiser than the Rebels, if not more partriotic, 
"will have to confess our mistake. In the present aspect of affairs, 
"I have to confess that it is yet to be decided whether those who 
" fought for the Union have not blundered." 

In affairs of State, you know that a blunder is a crime. You 
see why the name of Blair was hailed with such shouts in a 
Convention where Rebels ruled. Will any but a Rebel vote for 
him ? 

Much surprise is felt that the colored freed men are voting 
with their late masters. Why be surprised? When these same 
masters can come to New York, and rule a Convention of North- 
ern white men, why should they not control their recent negro 
slaves? 

Now, we hear that perjured oaths and broken vows of fidelity 
to the Government are no dishonor, that the war against the 
revolt was a blunder, that the Emancipation Proclamation of the 
President, and the deliberate Acts of Congress, are void, and that 
by force of arms, they are to be swept away at the beck of the 
South, in order to restore them to their ancient rights. 

The Supreme Court of the United States have decided, that 
by war the Rebels lost all their rights under the Constitution, 
and that all they can have, is of favor. But of what avail are 
the Laws of Congress and the decisions of the Supreme Court? 
Blair promises "to trample them into dust;" and next will 
severely follow a claim that the Rebels shall be paid for the loss 
of their slaves. 

Let us here pause, and ask why they should not be paid ? 
They lost much by the war, and by the Proclamation of Free- 
dom. If the war was unconstitutional and wrong, then surety 



the Emancipation Proclamation was void, and the laws by 
which money was raised to prosecute that war, are void also. 

I have presented this issue as the leading Seymour and Blair 
men have framed it. It is a fair issue — clear, open and bold — 
there is no dodging this issue. 

And now, I ask upon this issue, who will vote against Grant? 
Will Mr. John Q. Adams, after his recent letter and speech 
of just rebuke to the South, vote against Grant? 

Every Rebel hater of our free Government will vote against 
Grant. 

Every cruel jailor who exposed, starved and robbed our 
prisoned soldiers, will vote against Grant. 

Every aider in those crimes against humanity and against 
civilization, perpetrated at the Libby and at Andersonville, will 
vote against Grant. 

Every contemner of our Hag. despires of our Government and 
violator of its benign laws, will vote against Grant. 

Every Rebel raider from Canada, who robbed and murdered 
the defenceless people of St. Albans. Every inhuman wretch 
who plotted to poison your waters, burn your cities, and in- 
troduced pestilence into all the North, will vote against 
Gran 

Every traitor, every conspirator who aided in the murder of 
President Lincoln, and the assassination of Secretary Seward, 
will vote against Grant. 

And some good men, blinded by party prejudice or held in 
bondage by party fears, may vote against Grant. 

Put tell me, will any father, the blood of whose only son was 
shed in his country's cause, vote against Grant \ 

Will the surviving soldier, who endured the perils, and now 
shares the glories of successful war, vote against Grant? 

Will the trustees <>t' the widow and the orphan and the hum- 
ble laborer, whose little all is in some savings Institution, de- 
pendent wholly upon income derived from Government Bonds. 
vote against Grant? 



21 

Will any Father in the Roman Catholic Church, looking to 

the welfare of the children of that Church, whose earnings arc 
deposited for safety, and drawing interest from United States 
securities, vote against Grant ? 

Will our adopted fellow citizens, upon whose advice millions 
of foreign capital have been invested here, vote against Grant? 

Will any intelligent man of business, merchant, banker, 
manufacturer, salaried clerk, or day-laborer, who wishes stability, 
security and prosperity for himself and his children, vote against 
Grant ? 

Will any man who does not wish the Nation humbled, treason 
honored, and patriotism insulted, vote against Grant? 

Consider it well fellow-citizens, — vote deliberately, — vote 
conscientiously, — vote down the patriot, — vote up the Rebel 
if vou will ! ! — vote Grant a failure, and Lee, the Hero of 
the War: — But, — before you thus vote, — tear down these 
mocking monuments erected to your patriot dead ; demolish 
every memorial stone at Gettysburgh, and in every place where 
a grateful nation has reared a soldier's tomb ! 

Level three hundred thousand little hillocks, under which 
sleep three hundred thousand young men of the country, they 
died to save ; the grass is very green, so watered by mothers' 
tears, and the roses bloom well, which mourning sisters and be- 
reaved wives have planted on those graves ! — Trample them in 
the earth — they are all a mockery — the sleepers died in an ig- 
noble cause, and well deserved their doom — and' the lotting 
prisoners of the Libby, and the starving, tortured soldiers at 
Andersonville, had but their just deserts! 

Vote against Grant ; and when you see the Rebels, all red with 
the blood of your mothers' sons, holding high revelry in the 
Capitol — and confusion, dismay and anarchy in the land — go tell 
your children :— We voted foe that ! 

I would have the South treated justly;— yea, very generously ; 
I would take no step for vengeance; — but I would not restore 
them to power, with their present mad views, and audacious 
purpose, to subvert the laws, and destroy the liberties of my 
countrv. 



22 



The vote will soon be cast ; when the ballot has decided an 
issue in America, the decision conquers even the will : — all sub- 
mit as to the fiat of God. 

As this is the last, so will it be the bitterest contest. In it 
the son shall be divided against the father, and the father against 
the son, and a man's foes shall be they of his own household. 

It is a war of the mind, a war of ideas — of the will, and of 
all the evil passions. 

The result is certain. 

The storm will rage with great blackness, but as the sun rolls 
down on the 3d of November next, and stamps with the ink of 
night, the eternal record of that day, yon shall see One, calm, 
serene and well worthy of your trust, rising above the storm, 
and you shall hear his voice, saying : 

" Let us have peace !" 



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